Vivian Maier

Seniorshot

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For those who have not heard of Vivian Maire, she was an American nanny and a bit of a recluse, but started taking thousands of photos mainly black and white especially of people both in America and around the world. Her style is somewhat similar to Cartier Bresson, but she is very much unknown by comparison. Her work was never published and most of her photos and negatives were stored in boxes until her death in 2009.
An American named John Maloof purchased at an auction some of her boxes of negatives and realised the quality and quantity of her unseen work. He has since been responsible for showing her work to the world. Vivian Maier is certainly more famous now than when she was alive.
Anyone who is interested in street photography should Google her name to find out more.
There is also an Amazon Prime Documentary called "Finding Vivian Maier" which is an excellent watch.
 
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Seniorshot said:
For those who have not heard of Vivian Maire, she was an American nanny and a bit of a recluse, but started taking thousands of photos mainly black and white especially of people both in America and around the world. Her style is somewhat similar to Cartier Bresson, but she is very much unknown by comparison. Her work was never published and most of her photos and negatives were stored in boxes until her death in 2009.
An American named John Maloof purchased at an auction some of her boxes of negatives and realised the quality and quantity of her unseen work. He has since been responsible for showing her work to the world. Vivian Maier is certainly more famous now than when she was alive.
Anyone who is interested in street photography should Google her name to find out more.
There is also an Amazon Prime Documentary called "Finding Vivian Maier" which is and excellent watch.
Click to expand...

I agree the documentary is just superb a real insight into her life and some of her work.
 
Seniorshot said:
For those who have not heard of Vivian Maire, she was an American nanny and a bit of a recluse, but started taking thousands of photos mainly black and white especially of people both in America and around the world. Her style is somewhat similar to Cartier Bresson, but she is very much unknown by comparison. Her work was never published and most of her photos and negatives were stored in boxes until her death in 2009.
An American named John Maloof purchased at an auction some of her boxes of negatives and realised the quality and quantity of her unseen work. He has since been responsible for showing her work to the world. Vivian Maier is certainly more famous now than when she was alive.
Anyone who is interested in street photography should Google her name to find out more.
There is also an Amazon Prime Documentary called "Finding Vivian Maier" which is an excellent watch.
Click to expand...

I've watched this several times and it is IMO a great watch.

I'm not into street photography so I'm rarely interested but many of her pictures are IMO just stunning.
 
I watched the documentary a month or two ago - a fascinating story for sure.
 
I suspect as a documentary there's a fascinating story to be told. I've seen a few of the pictures over the years, and they seemed very much of an era - their age was what made them interesting. Perhaps I've just not seen the right set of images.
 
ancient_mariner said:
I suspect as a documentary there's a fascinating story to be told. I've seen a few of the pictures over the years, and they seemed very much of an era - their age was what made them interesting. Perhaps I've just not seen the right set of images.
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One thing that strikes me is the perspective in many of her pictures. Holding the camera at chest level and looking down to frame and focus creates a different look than holding the camera at eye level would. If this was deliberate or just a function of the gear she often used I don't know.

I watched one of Manny Ortis's vids and he did and explained the same thing. I don't do street and the only person I photography reguarly is Mrs WW but I do think that thinking about the effect the camera height and position have is helpful and not just for people pictures. I think once you see this and the effect it has it stays with you.
 
Yes, she used a TLR with WLF which is a part of what makes her photos look historic. People were not expecting a camera either so we're often more natural.
 
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Watched the documentary last night based on this thread. A very interesting watch, but can’t help thinking she wouldn’t want all the fuss :)
 
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Nikon_Nick said:
...but can’t help thinking she wouldn’t want all the fuss :)
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I agree.

It's hard for the "me, me!" types to understand but there are many people who aren't publicity seekers.
 
I only recently found out about Vivian Maier and I was immediately impressed by her eye for a shot. I think it was Maloof who said that looking at her negatives was like going on the walk with her - there was only one shot of every subject on each film! I think most of the professional street photographers were a lot more "considered" about their shots and probably used a lot more film on each one, and one of my favourites, Robert Doisneau, actually posed some of his more famous "candid" shots.
 
The Oldun said:
I only recently found out about Vivian Maier and I was immediately impressed by her eye for a shot. I think it was Maloof who said that looking at her negatives was like going on the walk with her - there was only one shot of every subject on each film! I think most of the professional street photographers were a lot more "considered" about their shots and probably used a lot more film on each one, and one of my favourites, Robert Doisneau, actually posed some of his more famous "candid" shots.
Click to expand...

Worth remembering film was not cheap, even compared to now.
 
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